In general, the coatings used for frozen fat-based desserts such as ice cream bars have been composed of a fat-containing substance. The coating material is melted and the frozen desserts are dipped into or otherwise coated with a liquified coating such as by spraying or enrobing with the liquified coating. The fat of the coating congeals on contact with the frozen desserts so that coatings are formed over the frozen desserts.
Coatings composed of fat-containing substances are often fragile and brittle, particularly when cold. When the confection is eaten, the coating will crack or flake off over a relatively large area often creating not only a mess but preventing the person eating the confection from enjoying the entire dessert. Additionally, after the coating has fallen off, the core leaks out on softening. It is to these problems that the present invention is addressed.
Various coatings for low temperature or frozen confections have been used in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,133,586 discloses the use of dextrose in a dry or crystalline state and, in part at least, anhydrous dextrose to improve the adherence of an ice cream coating. This is one of the earlier patents to address the problem of improving ice cream coating adhesion. U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,352 discloses an edible coating for frozen confections (e.g., chocolate coating over an ice cream core) which is intended to be flexible and tender to the touch or bite, colored and flavored to taste, and capable of bonding to the core which it surrounds. The coating, which employs gelatin, reduces cracking and flaking off when bitten into. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,563 and 4,396,633 disclose the modification of the fat component of ice cream coatings as a means of improving "the tendency to break, flake, or rub off during production or consumption".
All these references relate to various attempts to address the problem of improving ice cream coating adhesion. These references use dry or crystalline and anhydrous dextrose, a modification of the fat component of ice cream coatings, or gelatin to improve the coating. None of these attempts have resulted in satisfactorily improving the adhesion of fat-containing coatings to frozen fat-based confections without undesirably affecting the quality, taste, texture and/or appearance of the final product.